They Lived in Israel

It is understandable that weights as a standard should have become closely allied with money, and such denominations as the Shekel and the Talent were not only in the form of money but also of weight. When Abraham bought the field of Machpelah he paid "four hundred Shekels of silver, current money with the merchant." (Gen.23:16) Nevertheless he "weighed the silver." These phrases suggest that although Abraham’s silver was in some conventional monetary form its value had to be tested on the scales.

Early metallic money was not in the form of coins and in some cases the name of the currency indicated that it derived its value from another object. For example Jacob’s "pieces of money" (Gen.33:19) is a translation of a Hebrew word meaning "lamb."… In other cases the name of the denomination indicated its shape. The Hebrew word for "Talent" for example, meant "circle" and ancient Egyptian pictures illustrate money in the form of circular bands or rings. In Genesis 42:35 we read that the sons of Jacob discovered "every man’s bundle of money" in his sack of corn. This could either refer to a bundle of rings strung together or silver bundled together in a simple form of purse. (Prov.7:20) The first Jewish coins were struck about 100 years after the return under Ezra.

LHB